|
|
  
Mother's Day
Mother's Day also served as our May birthdays
celebration. Except Susan was bicycling in Italy and Richard
Pastrick was at home in Lake Stevens. We did sing "Happy Birthday"
to him over the phone and sent home a piece of Jean's
Millennium Falcon cake with Randy.
Nancy invited Erica, a widow and church
friend. They had taught Vacation Bible School together. (Which
reminds me that Annie got me to agree to help with VBS at UPC, July
15-18, 8:30 AM to Noon.)
Everybody had a big meal except me.
I just had a hot dog since it was donut day at church and once again I over
indulged there. Truth is, I only had one donut . . . and one maple
bar and one apple fritter and two cups of hot chocolate with
marshmallows and whipped cream. Fortunately, my glucose number the
next morning was only 137.
Jesus called the
crowd to him and said, "Listen and understand.
What goes into a man's mouth does not make
him `unclean,'
but what comes out of his mouth, that is
what makes him `unclean.'"
Matthew 15:10-11 NIV
"That which is in the well comes up in the
bucket.
The heart betrays itself through the
mouth."
Charles Spurgeon on
Matthew 12:35
|
|
|
 The
West Seattle High School Alumni Chinook Newspaper
This year, our high school
alumni newspaper featured four articles and 22 pictures of mine.
Dr. Susan Rutherford was on the front page as a new
inductee to the school's Hall of Fame. The recap of our
50-year class reunion last August was included (pages 24-25), as was my
article about the Monogram Club (pages 34-35). I was
surprised to see that my text about the All-School Reunion was
matched with other photos at the bottom of page 35.
Read this
year's edition here. |
|
 A
$20,730
Surprise
On Friday the 17th, I spent the
morning preparing the ground around my cucumber trellis for an
early planting, and in the afternoon I made another big pot of my
Navy bean soup. Then I went to check the mailbox. I
was completely surprised by a $20,730.58 check from King County.
It was the reimbursement for our 2023 property taxes. Our
senior discount, good for 2023 and 2024 only, reduced last
year's tax from $25,484.84 to $4,754.26. This will go a
long way toward replacing the $50,000+ I repaid this year to finish
off the loan we had with Susan to fund our new metal roof.
I managed to get the big check into my Charles Schwab account
that afternoon.
|
|
 Grampy
& Grammy Visit, May 20-23
Bob and Kim agreed to come north to
present a talk on Whales to Charis' class at Seattle Christian
School on Thursday the 23rd. They volunteer each summer at
Oregon's Whale Watching Center at Depoe Bay. They drove up on
Monday the 20th.
It's always great having them visit.
I was able to get away to a West Seattle Alumni Association
meeting on Monday night and a luncheon at SPU on Wednesday. (See
the Sam Wells article to the right.)
They enjoyed a batch of my fresh salsa
I whipped up for everyone here.
|
|
 Rev.
Dr. Sam Wells, Vicar
St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London
One of the treats of being named an
emeriti faculty member is to continue to be invited to special
events. Rev. Dr. Sam Wells, Vicar of St.
Martin-in-the-Fields was the invited speaker at this year's
Alfred S. Palmer Lecture, an evening presentation at First Free
Methodist Church. Earlier that day, he spoke at SPU's
Chapel program.
The next day I joined a number of
current and emeriti faculty at the FFMC Fine Center for a
lunchtime question and answer program with this Church of
England theologian and former Dean of the Duke University Chapel
in North Carolina.
It was a privilege to get to hear from
and speak with such a living pillar of Christ's Church, and
author of 44 books! (And the bottomless supply of
Pagliacci Pizza was a bonus. I brought two extra large
ones home for the family.)
|
|
|
|
 My
Current Study Project
I've decided I need to keep studying even when
I don't have a deadline to teach somewhere. I've chosen the Book of Job,
first because I don't know it well, and second because it has such a
unique place in Scripture. It is the Bible's oldest book, having been
written before Moses.
12 The
word of the LORD came to me: 13 "Son of man, if a country
sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it
to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its men and
their animals, 14 even if these three men-Noah, Daniel and
Job-were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness,
declares the Sovereign LORD.
Ezekiel 14:12-14 NIV
|
Here are a few of the amazing verses in
Job. |
1:20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and
shaved his head, and he
fell to the ground and worshiped. 21 He said, "Naked I came from
my mother's womb, And naked I shall return there. The LORD gave
and
the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD."
22 Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.
|
12:11 "Does not the ear test words,
As the palate tastes its food?
12 "Wisdom is with aged
men,
With long life is understanding.
|
|
4:17 'Can mankind be just
before God?
Can a man be pure before his Maker?
|
5:7 For man is born for
trouble,
As sparks fly upward.
|
|
5:17 "Behold, how happy is
the man whom God reproves,
So do not despise the discipline of
the Almighty.
18 "For He inflicts pain,
and gives relief;
He wounds, and His hands also heal.
|
26:7 "He stretches out the
north over empty space
And hangs the earth on nothing.
|
|
13:15 "Though He slay me, I
will hope in Him.
Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him.
|
28:28 "And to man He said, "Behold, the fear of the
Lord, that is wisdom;
And to depart from evil is understanding.'" |
|
|
|
  A
Cooler and Wetter May in the Garden
Recent stories on FOX News tell of the mental
health benefits of getting out into nature. My garden remains my
happy place. Even when I don't have a garden project planned, I
take a walk in the south yard every day and check on each crop.
With the exception of two 80+ degree days, May
had enough rainy days that I didn't need to water the garden every other
day.
At the left are just some of the new green
onion starts that I will transplant next month. On the right are
last year's green onions showing seed stalks bolting, promising many
hundreds of seeds for future crops.
These pictures give a glimpse of the garden at
the end of May. Seeds in 18 pots of
Delphiniums, 7 pots of
Sunflowers, 4 pots of Pastel Phlox,
and 8 pots of
Catmint (not to be confused with Catnip) have yet to germinate.
Seedlings in 8 pots of Dwarf Lupine
have come up, as have many of the
Red Yarrow seeds I planted
from some purchased two years ago.
|
| |
  The
amazing Miss Irene is already talking. And, while her vocabulary
is still small, her pronunciation is very good for her 1 year and 4.5
months. Officially, her first word was, "Dada." She's
followed that up with Momma, baby, uh oh, milk, light (I taught her that
one), ball, no, Valerie, and Grandpa. While playing in the Great
Room in a big box she said, "This fun me." Not a bad start on
sentences. She understood my instructions and handed me the eight
pots I was planting with Catmint seeds.
My
third colonoscopy with Gastro Health of Kirkland is scheduled for
Wednesday, June 12th. Nancy will be my designated driver.
CVS wanted to charge me $108 for the "prep" prescription, but I used a
GoodRx coupon from their website and ended up paying only $33.
I
bought 150 shares of MMM (3M Co) back in January 2023. It did not
recover well after the COVID stay-at-home years. But this year
those 150 shares spun off 37 shares of a new company SOLV (Solventum
Corp). I was able to finally sell both stocks at a profit.
The return was over 9% on an annualized basis when I remembered to
include the quarterly dividends. I was happy to get out of 3M as
it had been down much of last year.
One saying, “sell in May and go away,”
is a concept that has caught the attention of investors for decades. The
phrase suggests a seasonal pattern in the
stock market, where
historically, stocks perform better during the colder months (November to April) compared to the warmer months (May to
October).
Since 1990, the S&P 500
has typically grown by around 2 percent on average from May to October,
compared to a much stronger average gain of about
7 percent from
November to April, according to Fidelity.
From Bankrate.com.
  Special
thanks to Joel and Jean who passed along a spare 55" Samsung TV that
they'd received from a friend. I've set it up in my basement
office in the southwest corner. By placing the antenna in the
window, I'm pulling in many channels. Now Valerie can watch some
movies or PBS Kids shows while I can still work at my computer.
I
finally upgraded my cell phone to a Samsung Galaxy A42 5G. It was
first introduced back in September 2020, and I found mine for $140
through Amazon although it normally sells for $299. My old LG was
failing with a battery that needed constant charging, calls that would
periodically drop out the caller's voice, and apps that regularly
crashed. So far, I'm happy with the new phone.
My Quote from
May
Excerpts from Winston Churchill's
address
to a joint session of the US
Congress, December 26, 1941
|
Sure I
am that this day, now, we are the
masters of our fate. That the task
which has been set us is not above
our strength. That its pangs and
toils are not beyond our
endurance. As long as we have
faith in our cause, and an
unconquerable willpower, salvation
will not be denied us. In the
words of the Psalmist: "He shall
not be afraid of evil tidings. His
heart is fixed, trusting in the
Lord."
(Psalm 112:7)
. . .
Lastly, if you will forgive me for
saying it, to me the best tidings
of all-the United States, united
as never before, has drawn the
sword for freedom and cast away
the scabbard.
. . . |
|
What
kind of a people do they (Japan)
think we are? Is it possible that
they do not realize that we shall
never cease to persevere against
them until they have been taught a
lesson which they and the world
will never forget?
. . .
If you
will allow me to use other
language, I will say that he must
indeed have a blind soul who
cannot see that some great purpose
and design is being worked out
here below of which we have the
honor to be the faithful servants.
It is not given to us to peer into
the mysteries of the future.
Still, I avow my hope and faith,
sure and inviolate, that in the
days to come the British and
American peoples will, for their
own safety and for the good of
all, walk together in majesty, in
justice and in peace. |
|
